Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.2 Chapter 6.1

I could hear the gentle murmur of flowing water.

A cool breeze swept over the river’s surface under the night sky, wrapping me in its chill.

“Ruu…”

In the darkness, the flame on Lulu’s forehead cast a soft glow around us.

I sat by the little stream where Gier had once saved me, gazing absentmindedly at the moonlight reflected on the rippling surface.

Lulu and the Mocomotts quietly snuggled up against me.

As I stroked Lulu’s head, I let out a deep sigh. Even though it was midsummer, the air felt cool here by the water. Still, I had no desire to return to the guild dormitory tonight.

“…I wish we could have all watched the fireworks together.”

In just a few more days, the summer festival would be over. By then, I might already be gone from this town… from this country.

◆

That night at the festival… meeting my stepsister Agnès hadn’t been a dream. Father, Stepmother, and Agnès had apparently fled to Grantania to escape monster attacks. And by some strange coincidence, they had chosen Finaldatt as their place of refuge.

The girl Maki-chan had seen looking for me was most likely Agnès.

“Ah, Kuna, thank goodness… truly, thank goodness. I’ve been searching for you for so long.”

Father hugged me with a paper-thin smile—and I felt a wave of fear.

“F-Father… wh-why are you… here…?”

Was I dreaming inside the belly of that underground fish again? My legs trembled uncontrollably. My voice came out hoarse as I asked, and Father simply smiled at me.

“Why? I came to bring you home, Kuna. I never stopped believing you were alive. We’ve all been waiting for your return.”

Lies.

My eyes instinctively shifted to behind him—where Stepmother stood, glaring at me with eyes sharp enough to kill.

Agnès was no different. That familiar face brought me back to my senses, if only a little.

After all, she was the one who lied, claiming I had bullied the Saint. She, and Stepmother who adored her, would never truly want me back.

“That selfish, ridiculous farce of a condemnation ended up drawing backlash from many of the citizens, you know. Even if you had bullied the Saint, they said, ‘Going that far is too much,’ and there were quite a few voices of protest.”

So it seemed that my “bullying of the Saint”—in other words, Agnès’s testimony—was believed by everyone… including Father.

“Thanks to the damage from the monsters, the whole thing got swept under the rug, but I hear that His Majesty the King scolded the Crown Prince and the others involved in that little farce.”

Scolded?
They tried to kill me… and all they got was a scolding?

“…They exiled me to the Monster Forest. Without any investigation, without even holding a trial. By pure chance, I managed to escape that forest alive—but if I’d been unlucky, I would have been eaten by monsters and died. And Father, you never once came looking for me.”

“That’s not true! I was never told where you were, Kuna!”

Even if that’s true… then why did Father ignore me all this time?

Why suddenly act like he cares now?
Wasn’t I always just someone who didn’t matter to him?

Just because I’m a beastkin… I’ve been treated far too unfairly. I have no intention of ever returning to the Kingdom of Aluda, or to the House of Leiria.

“…Whatever business you have with me, I don’t care. From this day forward, I want nothing to do with you.”

I poured every ounce of courage I had into saying those words.

“What are you talking about, Kuna?”

Father chuckled as if it were all some kind of joke.

“We’re family, aren’t we? You’re my daughter. Family should be together. Don’t you agree?”

“…You can think of me as dead, for all I care. Because that’s how it’s always been.”

Why was it that, even though I bore the same Leiria family name, I was the one treated like I didn’t exist?
Why was I the only one singled out for mistreatment?
Why did Father continue to ignore me, year after year?

I had never found the answer to those questions.

But it didn’t matter anymore.

The day I met Lulu, I had already died once. And then I was reborn, starting my second life.
I already had a new life now.

Father shook his head.

“Aluda has been suffering terrible damage from the monsters. We’ll be staying here for a while. Once that’s over… we’ll go back together. Back to our home.”

The blood drained from my face.

“N-no! I already have a place here! I’m never going back to you!”

A strange feeling swirled in my chest—a mix of fear and anger that made my head spin.

Then, after quietly watching the whole exchange until now, Stepmother suddenly spoke.

“Kuna.”

“!”

“Do you want to be disciplined again?”

Just hearing her voice made my body freeze.
Father had never directly done anything to me—but she had hurt me, over and over again.

“Ah…”

“And here we are, so graciously forgiving you and offering to welcome you back once more. So why do you defy your father? Do you even understand your position?”

It was the feeling of having every part of yourself denied… of your heart being scraped away piece by piece.

“I… I…”

I can’t lose. If I think about it calmly, everything these people are saying is absurd. I know that.
And yet—when I’m alone, my legs shake, and I can’t get the words out.
The despair I felt back when I lived in the House of Leiria comes rushing back.

“Come home, Kuna.”

“Do as you’re told, Kuna.”

The two adults each seized one of my hands.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Agnès grinning.

My body moved as if my will had been stripped away.

It was as if my consciousness were being pulled down into the depths of the abyss—
and the world before my eyes went completely dark.